1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of devices which imprint sequential alphanumeric letters and numbers onto successive sheets of paper.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The following thirteen (13) patents and published patent applications are the closest prior art references.
1. U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,350 issued to Taylor on Dec. 13, 1994 for “Xerographic/Thermal Ink Jet Combined Printing” (hereafter the “Taylor Patent”);
2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,250 issued to Kawashima on Mar. 5, 1996 for “Document Scanning Apparatus Having A Stamp And method For Controlling The Stamping Position” (hereafter the “Kawashima Patent”);
3. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 372,733 issued to Yoshida on Aug. 13, 1996 for “Thermal Printer” (hereafter the “Yoshida Patent”);
4. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 377,370 issued to Escobedo on Jan. 14, 1997 for “Combined Ink-Jet Printer, Facsimile And Copier” (hereafter the “Escobedo Patent”);
5. U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,018 issued to Iimura on Feb. 11, 1997 for “Automatic Stamping Device” (hereafter the “Iimura Patent”);
6. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 428,052 issued to Dwyer on Jul. 11, 2000 for “Inkjet Printer” (hereafter the “Dwyer Patent”);
7. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 430,896 issued to Wong on Sep. 12, 2000 for “Image Transfer Device” (hereafter the “Wong Patent”);
8. U.S. Pat. No. U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,279 B1 issued to Weinberger on Jul. 9, 2002 for “Paper Processing System” (hereafter the “Weinberger Patent”);
9. United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2002/0131075 A1 issued to Kremer on Sep. 19, 2002 for “Tab Modification System For Printing Machine” (hereafter the “Kremer Patent”);
10. U.S. Pat. No. 6,512,856 B1 issued to Davis on Jan. 28, 2003 for “System And method For Information Stamping A Digitized Image” (hereafter the “Davis Patent”);
11. U.S. Pat. No. 6,618,563 B2 issued to Oakeson on Sep. 9, 2003 for “System And Method For Printing On A Print medium With A Combination Laser And Ink Jet Printer” (hereafter the “Oakeson Patent”);
12. United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0158655 A1 to Kremer on Aug. 12, 2004 for “Automatic Insertion Of Special Pages Into Black & White Digital Printing Jobs” (hereafter the “Kremer Patent”);
13. United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0205465 A1 to Baker on Oct. 14, 2004 for “Method Of Electronically Producing Documents In A Legal Proceeding” (hereafter the “Baker Patent”).
The Taylor Patent involves combining an inkjet printer with a photocopying machine. A thermal inkjet printer can print annotated messages onto a document which is being photocopied. The Taylor patent discloses a large non-portable machine which does not involve printing sequential alphanumeric characters adjacent an edge of a sheet of paper.
The Kawashima Patent deals with a document scanning apparatus having a stamping device which has a controller that controls the stamping position.
The Yoshida Patent is a design patent which protects the design shape of a thermal printer.
The Escobedo Patent is a design patent that protects the design shape of a combined inkjet printer, facsimile and copier.
The Iimura Patent is a complicated document reading device that includes a stamp memory control circuit which provides various stamp image data on the basis of the number of documents or the number of sheets of paper already printed.
The Dwyer Patent is a design patent which protects the design shape of an inkjet printer.
The Wong Patent is a design patent which protects the design shape of an image transfer device.
The Weinberger Patent discloses a large non-portable paper processing system for marking original documents including a document feeder, a printer for printing annotation on the document, an inverter to turn the document onto its first side and a stacker to stack the printed documents. In Weinberger, the annotation is printed while the document is face up and then the document is inverted. It is believed that printing the annotation before or after the inversion process does not provide as sharp and defined print annotation as desirable. The Weinberger device also scans the document to determine whether or not they should print the annotation.
The '2002 published Kremer Patent Application discloses the concept of selecting a marker on a printed document, displaying the location of the marker on the display device in the machine, modifying the marker and placing the marker in the document.
The Davis Patent discloses the concept of using a scanned image and electronically stamping the image on a document.
The Oakeson Patent discloses a method for printing on a print medium with a combination laser and inkjet printer. The system discloses an inkjet head assembly attached to a printer structure of the printer for printing a code or other information on the print medium.
The method disclosed in the 20004 Kremer discloses the concept of printing a document from a digital file which includes storing an input document in a machine readable form.
The published Baker patent application also discloses a method of scanning a document, storing the document in a computer and putting the document in a PDF file format and digitally numbering the document.
In spite of the prior art of record, none of the prior art discloses an efficient way to print characters adjacent the top edge or bottom edge of a sheet of paper in a clean, sharp efficient manner through a small self-contained portable unit. There exists a significant need for such a machine.